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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27807355">you can be king again</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthestairs/pseuds/allthestairs'>allthestairs</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Minecraft (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eret Angst, Eret Redemption (Video Blogging RPF), Eret-centric, Hurt/Comfort, Im bad at this, Multiple Pronouns for Eret (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur is an asshole, anyway the lack of eret angst bothered me so i did it myself, eret &amp; niki &amp; ranboo are siblings, how does one tag, i think that’s it???, idk - Freeform, ill probably add more, n makes little enderman noises, no beta we die like wilbur, ranboo can teleport but only small distances, ranboo is half-enderman, they make me soft ok, this is the first work ive done in which i actually had to write the tags, tommy is a bit of an asshole as well???, uhhhh</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 16:41:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,447</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27807355</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthestairs/pseuds/allthestairs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>eret angst pog?? eret angst pog</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>No Romantic Relationship(s), it’s bad that i have to specify this</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>223</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>you can be king again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eret wouldn’t say they had nothing. Sure, their castle had just been stripped away from them by the “god” of the smp himself, and sure, that castle had been their entire life for about three months, but at least they still had their friends.</p><p>In fact, sitting on the cliff overlooking L’manburg (Manburg? Eret had no clue at this point), Eret sighed and took the golden crown off his head. He held it in his hands, running his thumb over the various rainbow jewels embedded into it. He looked at it for a beat longer before standing up, heading back to his tower that he had built before the castle, and placing it in one of his chests, hiding it from the world. He wouldn’t need that now. There were more important things than being a false ruler, he thought bitterly.</p><p>Eret had spoken briefly with Fundy and Niki earlier, before the whole dethroning incident with Dream. The two of them seemed to trust him enough, Fundy a little apprehensive. All in all, Eret felt like they were finally giving him a chance, which was more than he could have hoped for.</p><p>God, he was such an idiot.</p><p>Eret made his way to the meeting place the pogtopians had agreed upon. Fundy had told him in their brief conversation. They donned their usual attire—a dark grey t-shirt with black jeans covered by a scarlet royal cloak, with sunglasses covering their white glowing eyes—the only difference being their crown was replaced with a crown made from blue cornflowers. Gathered at the spot was Niki, Fundy, Quackity, Tubbo, Techno, Tommy, and of course Wilbur. The former king felt eyes on him, and not welcoming eyes. He looked around at the group of soldiers, feeling a pang of sadness as he realized that Tubbo and Tommy were, in fact, soldiers, though they were only 16.</p><p>“What the hell are you doing here, Eret?” Wilbur asked bitterly.</p><p>“What does it look like? I’ve come to offer my assistance. I’m just as much against Dream and Schlatt as you are,” Eret said, carefully choosing their words. One wrong word and Wilbur wouldn’t hesitate to kill them.</p><p>“Yeah? What about that little conversation you had with him earlier?” Fundy piped up, the fox-hybrid’s ears pressed flat against his head.</p><p>“Dream dethroned me, Fundy. I’m no longer king of the smp,” Eret explained.</p><p>“Why would Dream do that? What reason?” Tubbo put in. Eret rolled their eyes.</p><p>“He thought I was picking sides. He wanted me to stay neutral, so he threatened my kingship if I didn’t. Then he saw me talking with Fundy and Niki and promptly gave George my place as king,” Eret explained.</p><p>“Eret, you’re one of Dream’s most powerful allies. He’d be stupid to threaten you, and Dream’s anything but stupid,” Techno said.</p><p>Eret looked across the gathered Pogtopians. their eyes landed on Niki. “Niki, you— please, Niki.”</p><p>Niki wouldn’t even look them in the eye. She turned silently, her arms crossed across her chest with a conflicted expression. Eret could have cried right then.</p><p>“Leave, Eret. We don’t need or want your help,” Wilbur spat, and for a moment Eret swore she saw a flash of the old Wilbur in his eyes. The Wilbur that would do anything to protect his friends, the Wilbur that was a true leader.</p><p>The Wilbur that hated Eret.</p><p>“I see,” Eret said almost inaudibly. He wasn’t sure he could trust his voice not to break into a sob if he spoke any louder. “Well, gentlemen. Godspeed,” he murmured, giving a two-fingered salute. For a moment, the control room flashed behind his eyes, and he quickly brought the salute down. </p><p>As they turned to walk away, they heard Tommy mumble something under his breath. They were sure they caught the word ‘traitor’, and they froze for half a beat. Bile rose in their stomach, and their pace quickened. The word had stung far worse than they expected it to.</p><p>Eret managed to reach his tower without breaking down completely. He was trembling. Why was he trembling? He should have expected this. What reason did they have to trust him? <em>God</em>, he was so <em>stupid.</em></p><p>And Niki....</p><p>Oh, God, Niki.</p><p>Niki was his sister. His <em>sister. </em>And even she didn’t trust him. What would Ranboo think? He hadn’t seen his half-enderman brother in what felt like forever, but surely Ranboo hated him as well? Eret was truly alone.</p><p>Eret made their way up the tower and onto the balcony up top. They looked out over L’manburg (they were sure now), and sobbed. When was the last time Eret cried? They couldn’t remember. But now, here they were, letting out forceful, ragged sobs that shook their body with each one. </p><p>Eventually their sobs turned to quiet sniffles, and they looked out over L’manburg once more before standing up to head back in and—</p><p>”Eret?”</p><p>Eret froze. That was Niki’s voice. Eret’s voice shook as he answered.</p><p>”What do you want?”</p><p>“It’s not just her,” Another voice said, a hint of distortion to it. No. <em>No.</em></p><p>”<em>Ranboo?</em>”</p><p>“That would be me, yes,” Ranboo said, and Eret would have laughed at his brother’s sarcasm in better circumstances.</p><p>Eret didn’t turn around. They didn’t think they could bear it. Niki didn’t trust them. Did Niki tell Ranboo what they’d done? Surely she did. Ranboo hated them too. He had to—</p><p>“I don’t hate you, Eret,” Niki said, her soft voice cutting through their thoughts and bringing them back to reality.</p><p>”Hate them? Why would we hate them again? Eret, you’re our sibling!” Ranboo said, his sentence punctuated with a confused <em>vwoop.</em></p><p>”So you didn’t tell him?” Eret said quietly to Niki, who had stepped up beside her, resting her hand gently on Eret’s shoulder.</p><p>”What’s there to tell?” She asked him.</p><p>“Oh, I don’t know. Only that I betrayed all of L’manburg and killed all of my friends, including two teenagers, all because Dream offered me material wealth,” Eret said, their voice cracking. Eret pretended not to hear the shocked, high pitched <em>vwoop </em>from behind him. It was better for Ranboo to know sooner than later, right?</p><p>Niki frowned. “Eret, that’s in the past. I’ve told you once, I’ll tell you again. People can change. You’re one of those people. I know my reaction earlier today was... hesitant... but I came to tell you I’m sorry. I regretted it the moment I saw the hurt in your eyes, Eret. The others are fools if they can’t see that,” she said. Eret sighed shakily.</p><p>”That still doesn’t explain why Ranboo’s here,” they said.</p><p>”He said he heard about the war and came as soon as he could,” Niki explained. “I wouldn’t let him fight in it, it’s too dangerous. We have enough child soldiers,” She said solemnly, and silence fell over the three siblings. Eret stood up straight from where he was leaning on the railing.</p><p>”I didn’t deserve their trust anyway. Hell, Niki, I don’t deserve yours. What I did... how the hell can I make up for that? And for what? To become Dream’s puppet?” Eret said.</p><p>Ranboo stepped forward. “Look, Eret. I may not know what you did exactly, but it sounds bad. But I know <em>you, </em>Eret. And I know that you and Niki are the best goddamn siblings I could ask for. You’re a good person, Eret. No matter what you’ve done, I believe that.”</p><p>And, great, Eret was crying again. He was thankful for once that his little brother was tall as shit, being half-enderman. He threw himself forward, wrapping his arms around Ranboo’s shoulder. Ranboo let out a surprised yelp, before returning the hug. Eret felt arms wrap around his middle, and turned to see Niki, significantly shorter than both of them, hugging him as well. He smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder as well. Finally the siblings pulled away, and Niki pulled something from her bag.</p><p>”We, uh, found this in one of your chests,” she said rather sheepishly, pulling out the golden crown they had discarded for the blue cornflower crown. Eret’s mouth dropped open as Niki walked over and gently rested the crown on their head.</p><p>”Head up, king, your crown is falling,” Ranboo joked, pulling a laugh from Eret.</p><p>”Thank you both. Really. I... Truly, I don’t deserve this. I’m a fucking traitor. I deserve every dirty look the others gave me,” she said.</p><p>”Eret, has anyone ever told you you’re an idiot?” Ranboo piped up.</p><p>”Says the guy who once debated for, like, five minutes on whether he should put a bag of spaghetti into cereal,” Eret shot back.</p><p>”Ok, that was <em>one time</em>—!”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>eret angst pog :)))</p><p>ive been wanting to write this n finally got the courage to post it dskfdkfdjksh please comment i require serotonin n validation </p><p>if any of the creators state they’re uncomfortable with fics, it will be taken down </p><p>i might??? write a second chapter from niki or ranboo’s pov??? comment if you want it please- - casey (caseadilla)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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